Qian, the Creative, Heaven
乾
1.0
元亨，利貞。
grand treat
favorable determination
1.1
潛龍，勿用。
submerged dragon
do not use it
1.2
見龍在田，利見大人。
dragon appearing in a field
beneficial to see the great man
1.3
君子終日乾乾，夕惕若，厲，无咎。
the superior man is creative all day
at night he remains wary
danger
no misfortune
1.4
或躍在淵，无咎。
it may leap in the deep
no misfortune
1.5
飛龍在天，利見大人。
dragon flying in the sky
beneficial to see the great man
1.6
亢龍有悔。
dragon in a gully
there will be trouble
1.7
見群龍无首，吉。
a flight of dragons without heads appears
auspiciousKun, the Receptive, Earth
坤2.02.1
元亨，利牝馬之貞。君子有攸往，先迷後得主，利西南得朋，東北喪朋。安貞，吉。
grand treat
favorable through the determination of a mare
if the superior man is going somewhere
he will first go astray and later find a host
favorable to the west and south
one will find a friend
in the east and north one will lose a friend
quiet determination
auspicious
履霜，堅冰至。
when there is hoarfrost underfoot
solid ice is not far off
2.2
直，方，大，不習无不利。
straight and square
big and not doubled up
there is nothing for which this is unfavorable
2.3
含章可貞。或從王事，无成有終。
hold a jade talisman in the mouth
an acceptable determination
if one is engaged in the service of the king
there will be no completion
there will be an end
2.4
括囊；无咎，无譽。
tie up a sack
no misfortune
no honor
2.5
黃裳，元吉。
a yellow skirt
very auspicious
2.6
龍戰于野，其血玄黃。
dragons fight in the wild
their blood is dark and yellow
2.7
利永貞。
favorable in lasting determination
The Yijing or Book of Changes is not officially poetry, but many of the cryptic utterances do have poetical value (and they often have rhyme). Moreover, it is the best-known Chinese book in the world! The Book of Changes is counted among the Five Classics and to date, the book is used as an oracle or as a wisdom book.
The Yijing is one of China's (and the world's) oldest books. Originally it was a diviner's manual, used together with a type of divination in which stalks of the yarrow plant were manipulated in groups of four to arrive at a series of numbers that were keys to lines in the text. The text itself was probably orally transmitted and elaborated by many generations of diviners in the first two millennia BCE. It was first written down in the early years of the Zhou dynasty, somewhere between 1047 and 772 BCE. The oldest version of the text consists of 64 brief utterances associated with 64 hexagrams, each hexagram being one of 64 possible combinations of solid or broken lines. Every hexagram label is composed of a hexagram text and six (or in two cases seven) line texts. These texts are filled with a variety of omens and images, often in rhyme and involving word-magic.
Centuries later, in the Warring States period of the late Zhou dynasty and during the Han dynasty, commentaries were added by scholars to the original brief text to explain the meaning of what had become a very obscure and archaic work. These commentaries gradually found their way into the canon itself, adding a philosophical layer to the once simple diviner's manual. In fact, this sort of interpretation continued through the centuries, variously recasting the Yijing in a Daoist, Buddhist or Neo-Confucian framework.
[The mythical emperor Fuxi was traditionally regarded
as the inventor of the eight trigrams]
Above I have translated the original Yijing text, without commentaries, of the first Hexagram, Heaven, and the second hexagram, Earth. Qian is the symbol of Heaven, the pure yang principle, the active and creative; in contrast, the second hexagram, Kun, was the symbol of Earth, the pure yin principle, the passive and receptive.
The "Grand Treat" was a sacrificial offering. It is probably a reminder to the diviner handling the stalks to offer a sacrifice at this point.
The word "determination" already occurs on the Shang dynasty oracle bones with the meaning of "resolution of doubt" before a divination was made. It later evolved into a moral quality as "determination" or "firm resolution." Here the whole line means that it is favorable to be firm and determined.
Note that the dragon in China was not a dangerous beast as in the West, but an auspicious and powerful mythic symbol. It was thought to usually dwell in water.
The meaning if the utterances in the Yijing is often difficult to fathom - I read it therefore like a piece of modernist, avant-garde poetry!
My translation (and description of the Yijing) borrows from Richard A. Kunst in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (Columbia U.P., 1994), pp. 6-9.
The Chinese text and (now superseded) Legge translation is available at Chinese Text Project. The translation by Richard Wilhelm is also antiquated. Just compare with the above version to see how much.